In existing computer software systems, there are a variety of approaches to sharing information among multiple users, and to enabling on-line discussion of topics. Some existing systems are designed for sharing and discussing on-line content among a “team” of users, in constructs referred to by terms such as “teamspaces” or the like. For example, the IBM Lotus Domino® system provides “teamrooms”, Quickplaces®, and other databases for sharing content stored on a server computer system. The IBM Workplace™ products and services also provide shared document libraries and on-line discussions, based on constructs referred to as Workplace Teamspaces™. Some of these server-side teamspace systems support notifications sent via electronic mail (“email”) messages indicating that content has been added to the server-side shared document set. In Domino® teamrooms, for example, a user can subscribe to notifications regarding changes to a shared database.
A problem in existing systems results from the fact that the email notification messages rely on links to documents stored on the server system. These notifications are effective in making users aware that changes have been made to the shared document set. However, to see what has changed, a notified user must open the remotely stored document indicated by the link. Some existing systems only send links to server stored content, together with a subject field value. Unfortunately, when a client system user goes offline, links to server stored content become virtually useless. While an offline, client system user can tell that something has been changed in the shared document set, they cannot access the changed content.
Some document sharing systems, such as Lotus Notes®, make the shared content available offline by replicating the shared database onto the client system. However, using this approach, the client side replications are defined by the boundaries of the shared database. A offline user cannot access content from other teamspaces. Users must to explicitly indicate certain databases for replication. They cannot simply have everything automatically available that might be indicated by links in notifications in their email Inbox. Additionally, a system that relies on complete database replication to the client system for offline access may result in downloading more information than necessary, resulting in wasted bandwidth and storage on the client system.